Samuel a



Sept. 6, 1932. s. A. STI-:ERE 1,875,517

com) FABRiG 1 Filed sept. 25. 1950 ....u. iL-Lazare! Patented Sept. 6, 1932 PATENT OFFICE A UNITED STATES BAIUEL Ol' AIBOILOHIO, ASBIGNOB TO THE GOODYEAR TIRE 3mm conm, OFAIBON, OHIO, A CORPORATION O F OHIO OOBD IABRIC 'applinuoa'ma september as. reso. semi n. maso. f

breaker stri for pneumatic vtires w ich pos-A sesses la hig er degreeof resiliency and extensibility than the fabrics which have heretofore been employed in that capacity.

In the construction of pneumatic tires for vehicles, a carcass is ordinarily constructed of a plurality" ofplies of relatively heavy cord fabric. resisting member which prevents excessive expansion of a tire by the pneumatic pressure imposed against the walls thereof by an in- Hated inner tube. In order tol resist wear or abrasion, this cord carcass is covered `with a relatively heavy layer of tough, wear-resistant rubber compound termed a tread element.

During service upon the vehicle wheels, the outer layer of rubber is exposed to relatively heavy pounding upon inequalities in the road surface. Therefore, in order to prevent loosening of the covering or rubbertrcad portion from the carcass,A it is customary to dispose one or more plies of very hea cord material encased within a cushion o relatively soft elastic rubber compound and termed a breaker strip upon the carcass between the latter and the tough relatively stiff tread material. 'This breaker strip constitutes a cushion which permits slight movement between thel tread element and the tire carcass and -also serves more uniformly to distribute the thrust of small objects upon the roadway over which the vehicle is traveling, to various portions of the carcass. The ten -1 ency of separation between the carcassand the tread is thus materially reduced. A

As heretofore constructed, .the breaker strips have been composed ofheavyfcords. These cords may consist of 23s yarnsspun in groups of five to form strands, which in Aturn were twisted in groups of to form the cords. The term 23s, as-here employed,

indicates that twenty-three unitsof yarn con-- stitute a pound. As applied to cotton cord, each unit of yarnisgeighthundred forty This carcass constitutes a strainY yards in length. The cords sp formed were fabricated into breaker strip fabric by arranging them in parallel relation and crossconnecting them b threads called pic which serve to bind them into a sheet during the process of forming `the fabric intobreaker strips `and assembling the latter into tires. The fabric so constructed was not entirely satisfactory in actual service because sharp indentations means of very weak-- into the tires, resulting from contact of the 'tires withstones or otherrelatively sharp objects frequently caused breaking of the cords in certain localized areas because of the fact that there was in the cords.

It has heretofore been proposed to overinsuicient' elasticity come this defect by so increasing the elasticity of the cords constituting the breaker strip that they would stretch materially without breaking. One method proposed for accom lishing -this result consists in crimping the abric by some `convenient means in such manner as to impart small waves or sinuations to the cords. These sinuations permit slight extensions of the cords, without localized rupture.

This invention consists in the provision 'of a fabric in which heavy sinuous warp cords are so inters rsed with relatively straight filler cords t at a desired degree of crimp is permanently im arted thereto thereby securin a hi y e astic breaker strip fabric whic we adapted to withstand indentations and pounding from the irregularities in the road without rupture.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may now be had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of the specification, in which:

Fig. 1 isa fragmentary plan' view of cord breaker fabric which is constructed accordthis invention;

into ig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken sub- Iric embodying va of the'invention Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of a' strip of breaker fabric which has been cut upon a bias preparatory toincorporation into a tire;

'Fi 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a at built tire band in which an improved closed in Figs. l and 2 of the drawing, is

e composed of aplurality of heavy warp cords 20` which, for purposes of illustration,l may be23s yards 22. The yarnsl inrturn are twisted in groups of five to form strands 24 which are again twisted in groups .of three to form the cords or cables 20. i The cords 2O may then be arranged in such spaced relation-` ship in the breaker fabric asto have a count of 13 per inch. In order to insureadequate crimp and to maintain the crimp in the cords 20 during the process of coatin fabric with gum and subsequently cuttin fa ric into bias cut strips 28 indicated in ig. 6, relatively light COIdS 01T Strands 30 are diSPOSd bef/Ween "the maj or portion of the cords are maintained under little or no tension during the process adjacent cords 20. During the process of weaving the heavy cords are maintained under but slight tension while the lighter cords 30 arey maintained under considerable 'ten-4 sion during weaving. These heavyl cords Y20 and lighticords 30 are interconnected Y'sidered as limitin course, quitepossible to vary both the size and the spacing of the various cords at will in order to strength and) into a woven fabric by means of filler cords 32 which, like the cords 30, are of materially lighter and weaker structure l'than the heavy cords 20. These warp cords 30 ma?I be formed of strands-consisting-of three 23s yarns, while the filler cords 32 may be composed of four .23s yarns twisted together in conventional manner.

The count per inch of the cords 30 ob viously is the same as that of the cords 20. However, the count of the filler cords 32 may be varied as desired. For example, for one convenient type of breaker fabric it may be approximately 10 cords per inch. It is to be understood that these various values are merely illustrative and are not to be conthe invention. It is,'of

roduce a fabric of'any desired weight.

The arrangement of the various cords in the fabric may also be varied somewhat without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, in the embodiment of the invention disclosed in Fig. 1, the filler cords 32 do not alternately pass over and under the heavy warp cordsl20 but instead the cords traverse the entire width of the Vfabric upon `namur! the same side of all of the cords', likewise, the light warp cords 30 are traversed' in similar manner. However, it will be noted thatthe warp cords 30 cross the filler cords 32 upon opposite sides from the warp cords 20. The various cords areI thus interlocked to form a woven fabric.

In the form of theinvention disclosed 1n Figs. 3 and 4, the filler ycords 33 are interwoven with heavy warp cords 34 extendingalternately over and under the latter throughout the width of the fabric.' The filler cords 33 are then interwoven in similar manner with the li ht warp cords 35. Although in both embo iments of the invention just dis-- cussed, each main or heavy cord is separated from the adjacent cord by means of a light cord, it is to be understood that they invention is not limitedI to this specific construction.

`For example, it is possible to employ a single relatively" stro'ng construction and may all be of the same. size and strength. However,

of weaving. `By .reason of the lack of tension, these cords 40 contain numerous sinuations or lexures 42 which impart the desired degree of extensibility to the fabric. These sinuations are maintained in the fabricrby means of a relatively few substantially straight cords 44 which may conveniently be incorporated into the fabric in that condition by maintaining them under considerable degree of 'tension during the process .of weaving. The cords 44, like the cords 30, `probably are broken durin service in a tire.

It is/mani est that substantially any de- -sired degree of extensibility may be imparted to the fabric merely by regulating the relative tension upon the sinuous .cords 40 and the s trai ht cords 44. The relative number of straigt and sinuous cords may of course be varied at will. In general, it is only necessary to use a suiiicient number of straight cords to revent breakage during the process of calen ering thestock. In actual practice it is found that excellent results may be obtained by use of groups of twelve sinuous cors alternating with groups of two straight cor s.

The filler cords 46 of the fabric employed to bind the warp cords 40 and 44 together i, into a fabric like the cords 32 are of relatively light construction and'have only suilicient strength to hold the cords 44 together as a fabric while they are being manipulated in the factory. e

The fabrics manufactured according to this together to form ai continuous strip from ,assembly of the fa which sections of proper length for the for-- mation of breaker strips may be severed.

In the manufacture of tires, two or more plies of fabric are superposed upon each other in such manner that the cords cross each other approximately at right angles thereby insuring adequate tensile strength in the fabric, both with respect to longitudinal and transverse strains. rIhe breaker strips are superposed upon a tire carcass and the ends thereof may then be spliced togetherin anyconvenient manner. Since the steps of coating the fabric with rubber compound and severing the coated material into bias units does not constitute a portion of the present invention, they have not been described in detail. Like- Wise, and for the same reason, a complete description of the specific steps of assembling the breaker strips into completed tires has been omitted. L

In the vbreaker stri fabric disclosed by Figs. 1 and 3, the relatlvely light warp cords 30 or 35, because of their small diameter and because of the tension maintained thereon during weaving, are only slightly crimped by reason of the fact that they extend alternately under and over the filler cords 32 or 33. On the other hand, the heavy warp cords 20 or 34;, because of their relatively large diameters and because of the lack of tension maintained ythereon during weaving, are deflected from the straight path to amuch reater degree than the lighter cords. There ore, the heavy cords 20 are more sinuous or are crimped to a greater extent than the lighter cords. The cords 30 are of such strength that they break readily in service but they resist rupture during the process of coating the fabric and stitching the latter to the tire carcass. In the form of the invention disclosed in Fig. 5, the cords 44 perform substantially the same function as cords 30.

Retention ofthe crimp is thus insured by the relatively strai ht Warp cords even after ric into the tires. After vulcanization of Ithe latter, the vulcanized rubber compound in which the cords are embedded is permanently set about the cords and insures the retention of the crimp in the sinuous cords20 or ieventhough the straight ycords may be broken by reason of impacts from irregularities in the road surface over which the tires travel. The crimp in the fabric insures a certain degree of extensibility in the cords which constitute the tension members in the tire and thus permit a considerable degree of extensibility under the action of severe local exure of portions of the carcass. The strain thus imparted to localized sections is more uniformly cushioned and transmitted to the main body of the tire carcass thereby materially reducing the tendency of the rubber covering upon the carcass to separate from the latter and. also preventing local rupture of the sinuous cords in the breaker strip.

It is well known that tire carcasses, after being used for, a short time upon the road, tend to stretch slightly and enlarge because of a certain degree of yield in the cords constituting the carcass. Where ordinary uncrimped breaker strips consisting offrelatively unyielding inelastic fabric are employed, this stretching or yielding of the carcass results in the p acing of an excessive tensional load upon` the breaker strip. AIn a tirein which a breaker strip embodying the improvements disclosed in the present application is employed the crimp in such breaker strips permits a slight elongation of the latter upon the stretching of the tire carcass and thus prevents excessive tension being set up in the cords constituting the f breaker strip fabric. v

It is of course to be understood that the in vention is not limited to use in` connection with breaker strips, but it may also be extended in its application to the manufacture of "fabrics constituting the body of the tire car-` cass.

Although I have illustrated and described only the preferred embodiments of the invention, it `will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited but `that various modifications may be made therein without de artin from the spirit vof the invention or pended claims.

What I claim is: 1. A breaker strip fabric com osed of alom t e scope of the apternatelyheavy and light cors, the light cords being initially under tension and the heavy cords being initially free from tension.

2. A breaker strip fabric composed of a war comprising initially-untensioned heavy cor s interspersed with initially tensioned ligiitS cords and a filler of relatively light cor 3. A tire carcass embodying a peripherally extending ply of fabric com rising initially untensioned heavy cords alternating with initially tensioned 1i ht cords interwoven with light transverse ller cords.

4..A fabric for use in pneumatic tires comprising sinuous cords interspersed with relatively straight cords, the strai ht cords being adapted initially to withstan the tensile strains during the fabric rocessing and tire-buildingy operations, and) tle sinuous cords being adapted to take the defiection loads in the tire.

5. A tire including as an element, a ply of fabric comprising straight `cords interspersed with,` sinuous cords, 'whose eneral path is parallel to the straight cor s, said isinuous cords being adapted to take the deecti'on loads in the tire while permitting a predetermined degree of elongation beyond the breaking point of the straight cords.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name. v

Si ed at Akron, in the county of Summit and tate of Ohio, U. S. A., thls 22 day of September, 1930.

SAMUEL A. STEERE. 

